I bought this book a year ago. Meant to resell it as the thickness scares me a bit. Never tthought I would be able to read the book, leave alone finish it. Started reading two days ago though. I thought, I haven't been reading anything on the physical book for quite some time. How about making it worth the effort with something such as Stephen King's master pieces. So I started reading and don't seem to be able to stop. By today I've done with the first 220 pages from the 848. Last night, it was 2am, my eyes were so heavy I really had to put down the book but nope, I just continued right until I finish the 2nd part.
I feel that it's important to write after few chapters, otherwise, by the time I finish the book, and yes, I definitely will finish the book, I may not remember the good stuff.
Before I started reading, I did not bother to read the introduction on the back page. Several pages inside, gosh, it was really good. Don't remember what was my last Stephen King's read. I do remember though having to memorize several pages of "It" and dramatically retell the story as part of my matriculations program. Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) program it was, more than 22 years ago.
This particular book by Stephen King is really gripping. Yes, right from the start. Jake Epping the main character sounds like just a simple ordinary man in the beginning. What he was meant to do, and how he got into the whole rabbit hole action is so exciting. I still don't understand how Al got his lung cancer overnight though. He was supposed to catch the cancer while he was in the 1950s and carried it with him in 2011? But as Jake had said, he was absolutely fine just the day before. Then again, that is very minor compared to the story of Jake in his first two adventures in 1958. I'll just go and go now.
........................ till the next review..............
I'm at page 309 when I write this, and I'm still totaly engulfed by this narrator. He even refer to us readers as "you....in case you are reading,...." and "if you will ever read this...". I thought this is totally awesome. Only one so accomplished such as Stephen King can do this and make us readers feel good instead of being mocked.
The story picked up even to a higher gear so fast from Part 3; that is after Al died and Jake went back to Derry down the rabbit hole to prevent the killings of Mrs Dunning and the Dunning 3 children by Frank Dunning. This amendment of the past was done with much less drama compared to Jake's first attempt of saving the Dunning family. He just waited for the man at the grave yard when he knew Dunning would be visiting his dead Mom and Dad, and shot him twice (if I'm not mistaken he shot him twice). Well, that detail doesn't matter much I guess as Jake the main character feel that his taking Frank Dunning's life so swiftly is justified. I must say I'm not very hapy with how that was done. Jake should have at least found out the reason for Dunning who's supposed to be a ruthless killer when he's under the influence of alcohol, to obediently still visit his parents' grave yards. Why? Maybe the "window of uncertainty" which Al talked about would result in Jake finding out that Dunning is not as guilty as he is deemed to be. One more thing I'd like to state, I don't remember whether Al died or committed suicide. I somehow missed that part. I guess it will not matter much which one happened.
Jake also managed to stop Carolyn Poulin from being shot and her spine wounded by Andy Cullum. This he did also quite too easily I think....by engaging Cullum into training or learning session of cribbage. Gosh I've never come accross this word and have no idea at all what it is until a quick google search revealed that it's a card game played with wooden board and "colored pegs". I never heard of this game. It's to me something like snake and ladder with the game piece token as the pegs, and instead of using cards to determine moves, the snake and ladders's players roll the dice. I hope this would make you understand the game of cribbage if you like me have never heard of that game.
Okay, I'll continue reading shortly. The last few pages have gotten me for some reason reading each word, and I so enjoy doing this. The words seem to let out sweet music as I read them. I think Mr King has consciously and brilliantly wrote pages 300 onwards so poetically.
........till the next pit stop........
I had to stop and write this out. Excellent note. "...stupidity is one of two things we see most clearly in retrospect. The other is missed chances". (Chapter 12, page 311).
..........................
Chapter 12 onwards till now have been very emotion ladden in my opinion, with love at first sight, deaths, theaters, school kids's affection towards good teachers, deaths, break ups and alone-again moments. I still don't get who Sadie is,...Was she someone Jake knew in the preprevious time travel or in the to-go time?
Fast forward I have finally finished reading. Took me a good one month though, pathetic. So how do I find this book? One, I think the ending is an anti climax. For a fiction, I don't understand why Mr King chose to not have a 'kaboommm' ending. Something very extreme which would do justice to the highly thrilling dramas. Jake in the end submitting to his conscience, not wanting to pursue with his plans to go back through the rabbit hole and let everything start over so that he can save Sadie, is so boring. I was hoping that he would go back and find ways to save Al from his untimely death so that Al can be the one instead to go back in time and save Kennedy, that would be interesting.
The last few hundred pages were quite too melodramatic for me, more suited for a love novel and this is not supposed to be a love novel. Too much is given to illustrate Jake's relationship with Sadie and his association with matters related to Sadie. I really could have assessed this wrongly, it's just the way I remember it.
I also wished so much for Jake somehow to go back in time and change the way he dealt with Frank Dunning. That scene on the grave yard and the fact that Jake didn't think important enough to rectify must have started my slight dislike against Jake.
Looks like Jake is the romantic who prefers to believe that women and children need to be saved against all crimes at all cost. That's fair from a hero from the 60 and 70's era I guess. Still, Î decided to read this book expecting a long winded, crooked, mind boggling, twisted thriller, not a love tale.
